The last time that Baylor and UConn met happened to be the end of an era in Waco. The top-seeded Huskies took advantage of a hamstring injury that sidelined the National Defensive Player of the Year, Didi Richards, and freshman All-American Paige Bueckers led UConn on a 19-0 run.
Baylor surged back in the fourth quarter and had an opportunity to win, but a controversial no-call as two Huskies mauled BU guard Dijonai Carrington. UConn danced their way into the Final Four, while Kim Mulkey headed to Baton Rouge following the Bears’ Elite 8 exit.
On Monday night when the Bears and Huskies take to the hardwood, Baylor will have an entirely new coaching staff led by Nicki Collen, while only two players remain from the 2021 squad — Caitlin Bickle and Sarah Andrews. Bickle spoke about the upcoming matchup and how different it will be from the last time these two met in San Antonio.
“It’s so different, because we’re such different teams. They have a couple that were there then, we have a couple, but we’re such different teams, especially our team,” said Bickle. “We have a new head coach, we have so many different girls who maybe watched that game on different teams or they were in high school, but there’s such different girls on our team.”
As these two historic programs get set for another bout on a national stage, here’s the 1-3-1 on seventh-seed Baylor (20-12) and second-seed UConn (30-5).
With Bueckers out for the season with an ACL, UConn did what any perennial power would do — looked for another 5-star player to step up and be the star. Junior forward Aaliyah Edwards let everyone know she wasn’t to be slept on, as she torched 15-seed Vermont in the first round with a career-high 28 points along with seven rebounds, five assists, four steals and four blocks.
Edwards is just one of only two Huskies to play in every game this season and against top 25 opponents she is averaging 18.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game while shooting 56.4 percent from the field.
She was named an AP Third Team All-American this season after averaging career highs with 16.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 57.3 percent from the field this year.
● Monday will be the 10th meeting all-time between the Bears and the Huskies and third meeting in the postseason between the two programs — UConn leads the series 5-4.
● UConn is 131-22 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, which is the winningest record in the sport.
● The Bears have won two of the last three matchups with the Huskies.
Baylor is going to have their hands full in the paint on Monday night, which makes their habitual foul troubles not ideal. UConn scored 54 points in the paint and had 23 points off turnovers in their 95-52 rout of Vermont in the opening round.
With Edwards at 6-foot-3, UConn adds more size in the paint with 6-foot-5 grad-student Dorka Juhasz. A former two-time First Team All-Big 10 at Ohio State, Juhasz had a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double against Vermont.
The Bears will need to play disciplined and rely on contributions from their bench in order to keep their season alive.
It will be a Big Monday affair for Baylor and UConn as they look to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. on ESPN from the Huskies' home court — Gampel Pavilion. It will mark just the second meeting between the two programs in Storrs, Connecticut.
Baylorkid said:
Sad way for Caitlin Bickle's career to end! She's been a great student athlete for Baylor the last 5 years! She should hold her head high because she's a national champion!
This is a mediocre to good basketball team that played its heart out in the NCAA Tourney.bawitdaball said:Baylorkid said:
Sad way for Caitlin Bickle's career to end! She's been a great student athlete for Baylor the last 5 years! She should hold her head high because she's a national champion!
Caitlin is leaving with a NC and one of the biggest comebacks in tournament history. Had they lost on Saturday I'd have said bad way. But this was an uphill climb since the brackets came out.
bawitdaball said:
I'm more annoyed that LSU got in such a weak bracket.
The Big 12 this year reminded me of high school district play. You think everyone is great because the playing field is even. In reality, it's just a lot of mediocre teams. I truly believe that had we not had injuries, we'd have been much more competitive. Will be interesting to see how the portal plays out for all teams this off season.DanaDane said:
Big 12 women's basketball is woefully weak. It was laughable people were arguing with you in here all year. It was fairly obvious every team in the conference was gonna make a quick exit.
Pressure will be on at that point. Baylor's SOS will be weak without a stellar non-conference slate.IowaBear said:
Goggles needed to be taken off by some. A good chunk on here we're calling the SEC garbage all year… yet they have 4 in the S16.. 2 years from now when Texas and OU leave it's going to look like aMm conference barring drastic improvements. Ucf Cincy Houston and BYU bring nothing WBB wise
Baylorkid said:
Sad way for Caitlin Bickle's career to end! She's been a great student athlete for Baylor the last 5 years! She should hold her head high because she's a national champion and no one on UConn's roster has one! Haha
Also, the SEC got some stellar draws from the committee and a bit of help with "upsets" - but we shall see. Still think it will be South Carolina, Iowa, UCONN and hopefully Utah in the final four.IowaBear said:
Goggles needed to be taken off by some. A good chunk on here we're calling the SEC garbage all year… yet they have 4 in the S16.. 2 years from now when Texas and OU leave it's going to look like aMm conference barring drastic improvements. Ucf Cincy Houston and BYU bring nothing WBB wise
bawitdaball said:Also, the SEC got some stellar draws from the committee and a bit of help with "upsets" - but we shall see. Still think it will be South Carolina, Iowa, UCONN and hopefully Utah in the final four.IowaBear said:
Goggles needed to be taken off by some. A good chunk on here we're calling the SEC garbage all year… yet they have 4 in the S16.. 2 years from now when Texas and OU leave it's going to look like aMm conference barring drastic improvements. Ucf Cincy Houston and BYU bring nothing WBB wise
IowaBear said:
Yeah I think CNC will start ramping up the non con to make up for the conference cupcakes
historian said:IowaBear said:
Yeah I think CNC will start ramping up the non con to make up for the conference cupcakes
I hope so. I wouldn't mind scheduling UConn at a neutral site or in Waco.
Actually, wasn't it already better this year than most years in the past? I can recall we used to have one marquee game a year (but not all years), but not much more than that unless we fell into one in a tournament. I think Baylor was criticized many years for its weak OOC resulting in missing 1-seeds a few times. This year we had Villanova, Maryland, Michigan and Arizona.....certainly more than I remember having in a season in the past. Hopefully the rumor that Baylor and UConn might start up again in 2024 comes to fruition.bawitdaball said:Pressure will be on at that point. Baylor's SOS will be weak without a stellar non-conference slate.IowaBear said:
Goggles needed to be taken off by some. A good chunk on here we're calling the SEC garbage all year… yet they have 4 in the S16.. 2 years from now when Texas and OU leave it's going to look like aMm conference barring drastic improvements. Ucf Cincy Houston and BYU bring nothing WBB wise
Baylorkid said:historian said:IowaBear said:
Yeah I think CNC will start ramping up the non con to make up for the conference cupcakes
I hope so. I wouldn't mind scheduling UConn at a neutral site or in Waco.
I heard that Nicki is setting it up but it won't be until the 2024-25 season as that season will be the first season where she'll have her own players!
historian said:
Beth just said that UConn had not lost in this arena since 1993. I remember we beat them in 2020. Was it not in this arena?
In January 2020, we beat them in preseason play at the Ferrell. It was a game to remember. The place was packed, rowdy and electric with anticipation. Geno was introduced pregame and the 100%+ capacity crowd that spilled out onto the floor gave him a standing ovation. He was overwhelmed - said he'd like to take all of us Baylor fans home with him.
blackie said:Actually, wasn't it already better this year than most years in the past? I can recall we used to have one marquee game a year (but not all years), but not much more than that unless we fell into one in a tournament. I think Baylor was criticized many years for its weak OOC resulting in missing 1-seeds a few times. This year we had Villanova, Maryland, Michigan and Arizona.....certainly more than I remember having in a season in the past. Hopefully the rumor that Baylor and UConn might start up again in 2024 comes to fruition.bawitdaball said:Pressure will be on at that point. Baylor's SOS will be weak without a stellar non-conference slate.IowaBear said:
Goggles needed to be taken off by some. A good chunk on here we're calling the SEC garbage all year… yet they have 4 in the S16.. 2 years from now when Texas and OU leave it's going to look like aMm conference barring drastic improvements. Ucf Cincy Houston and BYU bring nothing WBB wise
I don't think Nicki will shy away from the type of opponents you think is needed.
I think you should provide specifics on that opinion. I just don't see a basis for it. The coaching hire was late in the recruiting / portal season for the 2021 season and without having any track record at Baylor I think it is reasonable for recruits to have a wait and see attitude. She did pretty good in 2022 with Bella and DLB. Hopefully the 6'7" signee will be a player and not a project. You don't design a team in two seasons. You work with what you have and try to augment it. When she got here many had already hit the portal before the hire was even made. It was a case of get who you could at that late date.Olympia3 said:
Wow, I was very excited to see that we came to play. Too bad we fuzzies do fast at the end.
Long,l long hill back. Still think we have the wrong coach. Don't think she can design a team. But, have to give her credit in the first win in the tourney when I didn't think she could.
Thanks Bickle for a great year, ladies battled hard tonight. Hope we can get some transfers. And get back to Baylor Bball.
Lynnp550 said:historian said:
Beth just said that UConn had not lost in this arena since 1993. I remember we beat them in 2020. Was it not in this arena?
In January 2020, we beat them in preseason play at the Ferrell. It was a game to remember. The place was packed, rowdy and electric with anticipation. Geno was introduced pregame and the 100%+ capacity crowd that spilled out onto the floor gave him a standing ovation. He was overwhelmed - said he'd like to take all of us Baylor fans home with him.
remember baylor softball player whitney canion? i swear she played like 6-7 years because of the medical issues she hadBUVA said:
I'm curious how long Paige Bueckers will be at UConn. Isn't this the second year she's been out with injuries? How many medical redshirt years does one get? She should have a PhD by the time she finally graduates.
